


Please Know That I’m Yours to Keep

by theshipsfirstmate



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, season 4 spec, souffle spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 13:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4789397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshipsfirstmate/pseuds/theshipsfirstmate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season 4 spec. Another variation on souffle spoilers. What if the interruption doesn’t quite go like we think it will?</p>
<p>"It’s a rare smile, one he saves for special occasions, and she’s just finished asking him what’s so meaningful about this particular evening when the doorbell rings."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Know That I’m Yours to Keep

_A/N: Season 4 spec ficlet. Another variation on souffle spoilers. What if the interruption doesn’t quite go like we think it will? Title from “The Girl” by City and Colour, which is a beauty._

**Please Know That I’m Yours to Keep**

They’ve had some close-to-perfect nights, but this one is inching it’s way to the top of the list, Felicity thinks as she takes in the table: the flowers, the candlelight and Oliver’s soft smile across from her. It’s a rare smile, one he saves for special occasions, and she’s just finished asking him what’s so meaningful about this particular evening when the doorbell rings.

“Can you get that?” he asks her with a grin like he’s up to something. “I’ve got to check the oven.”

She does, diligently checking the peephole first, and she can’t help but feel guilty when her stomach turns at the familiar faces on the other side.

“Laurel, Thea,” she says by way of a greeting, because she and Oliver have been talking about having everyone by to see the new place, but she can tell by their faces that these two aren’t here on a personal call. “Guys, I really can’t help you out tonight. We’re kind of, having dinner here, and Oliver still doesn’t know…”

“Actually, he’s who we’re to see,” Laurel says regretfully and she purses her lips with sympathy that her eyes echo when they meet Felicity’s.  
  
“No,” Felicity protests stubbornly, taking one unlikely shot, one last-ditch effort at heading this off at the pass. “You said not until…”

“It’s ‘until’,” Thea snaps, cutting her off, then recoiling. She’s still not totally on an even keel, Felicity knows this, but she’s working on it. They all are. All together again, apparently. “Sorry Felicity, but we’re out of options.”

It’s the worst possible timing on so many levels. The girls make their way through the living room just as Oliver’s exiting the kitchen, platter in hand – _jesus, are those souffles_?

“You have visitors.”

She tries to keep her face neutral as she announces their guests, but a thousand anxious knives are stabbing at her gut and the swell of dread she’s been suppressing under a flood of happiness these last few months pushes its way to the surface, ready to seek real vengeance on their blissful little bubble of a new life.

“We really need your help,” Thea starts, and it strikes Felicity that they all know instinctively how loaded a request that is for him, coming from her. It’s comforting that Oliver’s eyes immediately snap to meet hers, but he knives in her stomach twist when she sees in them the dread and concern she had hoped was gone for good.

“We need the Arrow.” Oliver’s face falls further as Laurel shuts the door permanently on all hope that this little stop-by had been anything but what it looked like. The room stays silent as a corrosive mix of disbelief and disappointment scrub his expression stoic, nearly blank, and then he’s turning and stalking back into the kitchen.

“Oliver.” She calls after him even though she knows it’s futile, turning back to Thea and Laurel when she hears the water start to run. “Can you guys just give us a minute?”

He’s hunched over the sink when she steps in behind him. The tension’s coming off him in powerful waves and if something in his hand is clicking against the porcelain basin, well, she’s too focused on his anguish to pay it much mind. She says his name once more, softly, and watches in relief as his shoulders relax just a little.

“This wasn’t supposed to…” he mutters under his breath. She’ll tease him for years and swear to their grandchildren that he also mumbled “screw it”  before he turns to face her, huffing a frustrated breath out his nostrils.

“Felicity…”

Her name on his lips is always a benediction, a balm that soothes them both, but tonight it feels like something extra sacred. Maybe it’s just the way he’s looking at her, like she’s his every salvation.

“I’ve wanted to do this so many times over the last months. I wanted a perfect moment.” His voice is heavy with emotion and a rush of unbidden tears flood her vision, making his image blur in front of her. “But I’ve loved you for so long now, we’ve been through so much together. And if you’re still here beside me, right now, then this is as perfect a moment as we’re going to get.”

“Oliver…” He drops his gaze and she follows, letting the tears drop from her eyes and glimpsing something sparkling in his palm and _oh, how in the world did it take her this long to understand what was happening?_

“Felicity,” he says again as he takes her hands in his, and his holy voice cracks over the last syllable. “I don’t have the slightest idea what the rest of this life holds for me. The only thing I’m sure of is that I don’t want to do any of it without you by my side.”

He takes a deep breath and lets it out on a shudder, and she thinks it’s strangely poetic that his voice drops almost to his Arrow register when he asks, “Will you marry me?”

She’s not a girl who’s spent a lot of time picturing this moment, and after everything they’ve been through, all she’s really hoped for on her left hand is his right. But _this_ , this is everything. Everything she never knew she wanted, everything she didn’t know they needed.

“Yes,” she whispers and his lips are on hers so fast, the next breath they each take is the same one. “Yes, of course.”

They take this one tiny moment for themselves, lips sliding against each other, hands clutching at whatever they can reach. When they have to pull away for air, they don’t stop clinging to each other, even for a moment.

“I think I have to do this.” he whispers into her hair before he pulls her back to arm-length so he can meet her eyes. He looks regretful, and she’s honestly a little baffled that he’d even doubt her understanding for a second. “I have to help them. But you… Felicity, you don’t have to be a part of this again if you don’t want…”

“I’ve-been-secretly-helping-the-team-remotely-for-the-last-few-weeks,” she blurts out fast, because it’s the easiest way to turn the truth into reality, and she knows for certain this can’t start on a lie.

“You what?” His eyes flash through a few dozen emotions, but she doesn’t see betrayal in any of them and that helps her take a deep breath and repeat herself slowly.

“I’ve been helping them,” she tells him. “They needed some help on the comms a few weeks back, I’ve been…assisting remotely, here and there, since then.”

“I don’t…” he stammers, frozen.

“I didn’t want to lie to you,” she continues, trying to keep her voice from going small because she’s not scared, not really. “But I asked them to keep you out of it, until absolutely necessary. I just…you were so happy, and I…”

“You…” He interrupts her then, even though he’s still having some trouble with words. Until he finds the perfect ones. “You, Felicity Smoak, are still absolutely remarkable.”

Every single time she thinks she can’t love him anymore, he proves her wrong. Felicity thinks that’s as good a foundation as any, though there is something they need to settle first.

“Does that mean you still want to marry me?” When he realizes he’s still holding the ring, he barks out a laugh that she echoes, nerves melting in the warmth of his loving gaze.

“Are you kidding?” It’s the same look he gave her when she hijacked Ray’s suit to save him, but it’s still soft enough to give her hope that they can do this again, and do it differently this time around.

“Yes, Felicity,” he answers in between soft kisses that blanket her face. “God, yes. Of course.”

Oliver slips the ring on her finger then, and her breath catches again at how perfect it is. He takes her left hand in his right when they walk back into the dining room to face their latest destiny, squeezing hard enough that she knows the diamond will leave a mark on his skin.

It’s the start of their happy ending.


End file.
